Here's my favorite pic I took at the Louvre a few years ago. I call it "freaked out lion is getting his nails done."
It's really not a lion getting a manicure, although I still like to call it that. The painting by Sano di Pietro, dating to the 15th century (somewhere between 1425-1450), actually depicts a lion getting a thorn pulled out of its paw by St. Jerome. You can see the entire painting here. And you can find it in Room 709 at the Louvre. Wikipedia provides some context and history:
Jerome is also often depicted with a lion, in reference to the popular hagiographical belief that Jerome had tamed a lion in the wilderness by healing its paw. The source for the story may actually have been the second century Roman tale of Androcles, or confusion with the exploits of Saint Gerasimus (Jerome in later Latin is "Geronimus"). Hagiographies of Jerome talk of his having spent many years in the Syrian desert, and artists often depict him in a "wilderness", which for West European painters can take the form of a wood or forest.
I still think the lion looks like it's alarmed at the nail polish color St. Jerome just chose.
